Conflict Resolution through Engagement

Our world is full of conflicts, and it appears to be everywhere and escalating. However, one that seems predictable because of its historical driver is the seemingly impossible conflict between Israelis and Palestinians, which is consistently rated high globally. 

At the same time, the Israelis and Palestinians conflict provides hope when looking at a Maine summer camp program called Seeds of Peace, which focuses on building relationships. The program brings Jewish Israeli and Palestinian teens together, providing them and the world a source of hope for those who are increasingly hopeless due to increasing conflicts locally and globally around the world. So yes, it's heartening to see or read what the Seeds of Peace program has done for the Israelis and Palestinian youths, according to Alice G. Walton, in her piece titled, "How to Forge Relationships with the 'Enemy'" which characterized as "overwhelmingly successful at facilitating not just tolerance but close, positive relationships, suggests research by Facebook's Shannon White and University of California at Berkeley's Juliana Schroeder (both graduates of Chicago Booth's Ph.D. Program), along with Booth's Jane L. Risen."

Alice G. Walton further provided foundations for this Seed of Peace program this way, "The work grew out of previous research by Schroeder and Risen, who in 2014 studied the program and found that campers' attitudes toward people of the other nationality (in the "outgroup") became significantly less negative after completing the program, particularly for campers who said they'd formed a close relationship with someone from the outgroup." 

As Risen's research demonstrated what propelled the relationship, as they investigated, White, Schroeder, and Risen analyzed data from the information they collected from more than 500 participants who participated in one of the Seeds of Peace summer camps between 2011 and 2017. To ensure a proper conclusion, Alice asserted that "Schroeder and Risen surveyed the teens before their camp stay began, including how positive, sympathetic, and anxious they felt toward or about members of the other group." They also asked participants questions as the program ended, enquiring to ascertain "how close they had become with other program members, both Israeli and Palestinian." Finally, as they concluded with their work, according to Alice, "the researchers tracked how participants were arranged across three main activities: facilitator-led dialogue groups, bunk groups, and dining-table groups. Because participants were randomly assigned to each activity group, the researchers could test the causal effect of being in the same (versus a different) group on the likelihood of forming a close relationship for ingroup pairs compared with outgroup pairs." 

This fantastic work fits into SDIG's perspective that every conflict can be resolved if opposing sides learn to respect those that oppose them through careful listening and meaningful dialogue through engagement. Although all the sources of conflict can be seen from both perspectives and through genuine understanding and commitment to fairness and peaceful reconciliation, no conflict can be impossible to dismantle if both sides adhere to the model that these research, Facebook's Shannon White and the University of California at Berkeley's Juliana Schroeder (both graduates of Chicago Booth's Ph.D. Program), along with Booth's Jane L. Risen have done significant work.

There is no question that this model can work, and it can be replicated in any situation with potential conflict. The Seed of Peace program could provide the world with a new paradigm for resolving all sorts of problems for individuals, groups, or nations. I advocate such a model as a means through which world peace can be designed and developed. Can you imagine Russia and Ukraine; Palestinian and Israelis; Ireland and British; United States and Iran; and here at home, the conservatives and liberals employing this Risen model to advance peace, equity, and social justice as SDIG does by bringing all people white, black and brown, Hispanic and Asians, and middle easterner to embrace SDIG's model in their quest for peace, equity, and social justice for all.